This is a movie I watched today. It’s about the first expedition attempt to sail a raft from Peru to Polynesia. The journey was inspired by the leader, Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian man who had a theory that Polynesia was first settled by people from South America who sailed east.
An interesting aspect of the expedition is the crew:
From the Wikipedia site:
“Kon-Tiki had a six-man crew, all of whom were Norwegian except for Bengt Danielsson, a Swede.[6]
Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) was the expedition leader. He was also the author of the book of the expedition and the narrator of the story. Heyerdahl had studied the ancient people of South America and Polynesia and believed that there was a link between the two.
Erik Hesselberg (1914–1972) was the navigator and artist. He painted the large Kon-Tiki figure on the raft’s sail. His children’s book Kon-Tiki and I appeared in Norwegian in 1949 and has since been published in more than 15 languages.
Bengt Danielsson (1921–1997) took on the role of steward, in charge of supplies and daily rations. Danielsson was a Swedish sociologist interested in human migration theory. He also served as translator, as he was the only member of the crew who spoke Spanish. He was also a voracious reader; his box aboard the raft contained many books.
Knut Haugland (1917–2009) was a radio expert, decorated by the British in World War II for actions in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage that stalled what were believed to be Germany’s plans to develop an atomic bomb. Haugland was the last surviving crew member; he died on Christmas Day, 2009 at the age of 92.[7]
Torstein Raaby (1918–1964) was also in charge of radio transmissions. He gained radio experience while hiding behind German lines during WWII, spying on the German battleship Tirpitz. His secret radio transmissions eventually helped guide in Allied bombers to sink the ship.
Herman Watzinger (1910–1986) was an engineer whose area of expertise was in technical measurements. He was the first to join Heyerdahl for the trip. He collected and recorded all sorts of data on the voyage. Much of what he recorded, such as weather data, was sent back to various people, since this area of the ocean was largely unstudied.”
All of these elements are of enormous importance to the world of culture study, and humanity itself.
Five Norwegians and a Swede sail a traditional raft from Peru to Polynesia, while using American army supplies. That’s a fair amount of culture in itself.
This is an excellent film, and I highly recommend it.
Interculturally Speaking 